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  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Kentucky

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Kentucky

    It will be the 12th race of the scheduled 22 race season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series once the trucks hit the track Thursday night for the annual Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

    Currently, there are 33 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list this week.

    Here’s a look at who might be competing for the win in Thursday night’s truck race.

    1. Matt Crafton – Crafton has competed in 19 races at Kentucky, earning one win, five top fives and 14 top-10 finishes, along with an average start of 9.9 and an average finish of 10.3 and he has also led 79 laps in his career. He’ll need a win here soon before the Playoffs start at Bristol and Kentucky just might be the place where Crafton will break out and earn his first win of the year. If he doesn’t win this week, the next race at Eldora will mark one year since he has won. In the past five races, he finished eighth twice, won in 2015, sixth, and 10th, respectively. When the stages were implemented last year, Crafton finished third but fell out of the top-10 in the second stage after getting involved in an accident early on. Despite the finishes this year, he could sneak his way into victory lane Thursday night in the Bluegrass state.
    2. Parker Kligerman – While Kligerman might not end up in victory lane, he is certainly the one to watch when it comes to the Trucks Series when running a part-time schedule. At Kentucky, he has made six starts with the best finish of second coming in his first race in 2011 driving for Brad Keselowski. However, times have changed since then, and he now drives the No. 75 Henderson Motorsports entry. In last year’s race, Kligerman started 30th and finished seventh after running as high as sixth. In the 2018 season, he only has four starts coming at Daytona, Atlanta, Dover and Charlotte, with the best finish coming at Charlotte placing seventh. It’s easy to overlook drivers like Kligerman, but he could finish inside the top-10 once more, or possibly earn a top-five finish.
    3. Johnny Sauter – Kentucky hasn’t really been Sauter’s cup of tea, as he’s had mixed results at the 1.5-mile racetrack in Sparta. In the previous five races, he has finishes of ninth, fifth, 12th, ninth, and 12th. His best finish at the track came in 2010, finishing second and his worst finish was 24th in 2011 after having transmission issues. In the past two years, however, Sauter led a combined 40 laps. But with the way his 2018 season has been going so far, it’s hard to stop someone who has been dominant and having his career best season to date. Sauter just might cross Kentucky off the tracks he hasn’t won at yet. If he doesn’t do it this year, Sauter will definitely win here before his career is over.
    4. Brandon Jones – Jones could continue with the Jones name to victory lane this weekend after Erik Jones won at Daytona last Saturday night. He has three starts here earning one top five and three top-10 finishes, with his best finish of second coming in last year’s race. His average finish at Kentucky is 6.3. In the 2018 season, however, Jones has made three starts with two top fives and three top-10 finishes for Kyle Busch Motorsports. His best finish is third at Charlotte. He’ll pilot the famed the No.51 KBM entry with sponsor SoleusAir/Menards.
    5. Noah Gragson – Another driver who has been close to victory lane multiple times this year, has been the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Noah Gragson. Gragson competed in this race last year as a rookie. He started 11th and finished fifth after leading 32 laps. Gragson ran as high as first and as low as 20th. This earned him a driver rating of 95.5 and he has made 22 quality passes. Kyle Busch Motorsports has won the last two races at Kentucky.

    The Truck Series has competed here since 2001 and has a list of who-who when it comes to visiting victory lane. The list of winners includes Greg Biffle, Scott Riggs, Mike Bliss, Carl Edwards, Bobby Hamilton, Dennis Setzer, Ron Hornaday Jr, Mike Skinner, Johnny Benson, Todd Bodine, Kyle Busch, James Buescher, Ty Dillon, Matt Crafton, William Byron, and Christopher Bell.

    Of those winners, only three drivers have been able to repeat. Those include Kyle Busch, James Buescher, and Ron Hornaday Jr.

    Qualifying will be important here as the past five races, the winners have come from second, third, first (twice), and 22nd. The highest a race winner has come was first with those coming in 2015, 2014, and 2009. The lowest a race winner has ever come from was 22nd in 2006 and 2013.

    Thursday’s event will be an all-day show with a busy day on tap. Two practice sessions are scheduled for 9:05-9:55 a.m. ET with the final practice at 11:05-11:55 a.m. ET with no live coverage.

    Qualifying is slated for Thursday afternoon at 5:10 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

    Race coverage is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET with an approximate green flag at 7:49 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages will be broken up into 35/70/150.

  • NASCAR Reinstates Xfinity Driver Spencer Gallagher

    NASCAR Reinstates Xfinity Driver Spencer Gallagher

    On Wednesday, Spencer Gallagher was reinstated by NASCAR and is eligible to compete once again in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Two months ago, he was indefinitely suspended for violating the substance abuse policy.

    In a press release by GMS Racing, the team announced Gallagher will return to the No. 23 Chevrolet next weekend at Kentucky Speedway. Currently, Chase Elliott is listed as the entry driver for the No. 23 car in Friday’s Xfinity race in the Coca-Cola 250 at Daytona International Speedway. Other drivers to act as substitutes during Gallagher’s absence include Johnny Sauter, Justin Haley and Alex Bowman

    “The whole GMS organization is very proud of Spencer (Gallagher) for getting reinstated after completing NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program after the results we received post-Talladega,” GMS Racing’s president Mike Beam said in that release. “Spencer will return to the No. 23 at Kentucky Speedway and then again after our agreed contracts are fulfilled.”

    NASCAR posted the article on their website around 2 p.m. on July 4 that Gallagher successfully completed the necessary requirements within NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program to be considered for reinstatement.

    Gallagher was suspended a day after his first series victory at Talladega Superspeedway earlier this season. Despite that victory, he is no longer eligible for the Xfinity Playoffs, mainly due to the failure to attempt to qualify for each race of the season. However, the No. 23 car is still eligible for an owners championship and currently sits 11th in the owners’ standings at 171 points behind the top spot.

    When Gallagher was suspended, he shared an assurance to both his fans and the NASCAR community.

    “I want to assure everyone in the NASCAR community this one-time error in judgment will never happen again.

    “I would like to say that I am sorry to all of the GMS organization for my actions, especially my team and team owner, who have worked so hard this year and have put faith in me. I also want to apologize to NASCAR, Chevrolet and my fans for letting them down. I have not upheld the behavior that is expected of me. I promise you all here and now, I will do whatever it takes to make this right.”

    Now that this is behind him, Gallagher only looks to the horizon as the team plans to have the 28-year-old back in the driver’s seat at Kentucky Speedway.

  • Allgaier rallies from flat tire to finish third at Kentucky

    Allgaier rallies from flat tire to finish third at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Justin Allgaier leaves the Bluegrass State as the points leader, but doing so required rallying from an early flat tire and falling two laps down.

    Allgaier started losing pace on Lap 14 due to a tire rub on the right-front tire. The right-front went flat the following lap and he was forced onto pit road for four tires. He rejoined the race in 39th, two laps down. Per NBC, Allgaier spent 27 total laps being down two laps.

    Opting to take the wave-around under the first stage break, he climbed up to 21st and took over as the first car a lap down on Lap 54. Angela Ruch’s spin in Turn 4 on Lap 75 came at the perfect time for Allgaier, as he earned his way back onto the lead lap via the lucky dog.

    Ending the second stage in 11th, crew chief Jason Burdett opted for a fuel-only stop.

    Allgaier restarted third on Lap 97 and fell to fifth by the time he pitted for the final time on Lap 138. When the green flag pit cycle was complete, he came out sixth.

    With a strong long run car, he worked his way around Cole Custer and teammate Elliott Sadler for fourth with 20 laps to go. He spent the next 10 chipping away the gap to third, took it from Ryan Preece and brought his car home to a podium finish.

    “My team at JR Motorsports obviously does a great job,” Allgaier said. “We talked about not beating ourselves in the first playoff race. You know, it was unfortunate there getting a flat tire. It wasn’t in our control. We did what we had to do and persevered through it and we did a great job on pit calls and pit stops. I thought we had a car that maybe could win the race. After the race, I told my team we might not have won the playoffs tonight but we definitely salvaged what we needed to tonight to move ourselves forward.”

    Allgaier leaves Kentucky, tied with Custer, with a two-point lead over Sadler.

  • Reddick wins XFINITY Playoff opener at Kentucky

    Reddick wins XFINITY Playoff opener at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Tyler Reddick’s entire No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing XFINITY Series team will enjoy a free vacation to Myrtle Beach, thanks to his overtake of Ryan Preece just past halfway to win the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

    He got underneath Preece exiting Turn 4 on Lap 126 and edged him out at the line to take the lead. Reddick only lost it once more during the final cycle of green flag stops with roughly 50 laps to go, Kyle Benjamin led for eight circuits, before it cycled back to him and he drove on to a 14.540-second victory.

    “Well it was all about execution and having a smart race and Mike Shiplett obviously did a great job on the box, Reddick said. “This is obviously the goal we are working towards, is winning a race. It’s all about being smart, executing and not making mistakes. We had plenty of opportunities throughout this race to throw it away, whether it was being too aggressive passing lapped cars, trying to pass for the lead, pass for position on the race track or even coming to pit road, or on pit road. So plenty of opportunities to give the race away. We had a pretty sizable lead. So it was our race to throw away and we played it smart. We were conservative, we were safe and it got us here to victory lane.”

    It was his first career victory in 15 NASCAR XFINITY Series starts.

    Brennan Poole finished second and Justin Allgaier rallied from an early flat tire to round out the podium.

    “My team at JR Motorsports obviously does a great job,” said Allgaier. “We talked about not beating ourselves in the first playoff race. You know, it was unfortunate there getting a flat tire. It wasn’t in our control. We did what we had to do and persevered through it and we did a great job on pit calls and pit stops. I thought we had a car that maybe could win the race. After the race, I told my team we might not have won the playoffs tonight but we definitely salvaged what we needed to tonight to move ourselves forward.”

    Preece and Cole Custer rounded out the top-five.

    Elliott Sadler, Daniel Hemric, Brian Scott, Matt Tifft and Ryan Reed rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Benjamin led the field to the green flag at 8:17 p.m. He led almost all of the first stage, before Custer took over the lead with three remaining in it to win the first stage.

    During the first stage, Allgaier suffered a right-front tire failure and fell as low as 39th (two laps down).

    Benjamin took the lead back by beating Custer off pit road, but Custer took the lead back on the ensuing Lap 51 restart and drove on to win the second stage. Sadler opted not to pit under the second stage break and assumed the race lead.

    Playoff driver William Byron made an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 102 to remove a piece of trash from his grille.

    Preece, on new tires, took the lead from Sadler going into Turn 1 on Lap 105. Reddick took it from Benjamin on Lap 126, setting up the run to the finish.

    CAUTION SUMMATION

    The first caution flew on Lap 45 for the end of the first stage. Caution flew for the second time on Lap 75 when Angela Ruch spun in Turn 4. The end of the second stage brought out the third and final caution of the race.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted one hour, 58 minutes and 38 seconds, at an average speed of 151.728 mph. There were eight lead changes among five different drivers and three cautions for 14 laps.

    Allgaier and Custer leave Kentucky, tied, with a two-point lead over Sadler. Brendan Gaughan, Blake Koch, Michael Annett and Jeremy Clements leave in the bottom-four spots.

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  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for New Hampshire and Kentucky

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for New Hampshire and Kentucky

  • Keselowski and Johnson Among Those Eliminated by Multi-Car Wrecks at Kentucky

    Keselowski and Johnson Among Those Eliminated by Multi-Car Wrecks at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Three multi-car wrecks during the Quaker State 400 ended the night of a number of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers at Kentucky Speedway.

    Rounding Turn 3 on Lap 88, Brad Keselowski was running inside of Clint Bowyer when his car got loose and spun out. He clipped the left-rear corner of Bowyer and sent him spinning as well. Jimmie Johnson, coming up on the spinning Keselowski, had nowhere to go, took a critical hit to the right-front wheel-well, veered up the track and slammed the wall in Turn 4.

    Bowyer continued on with his race and finished 13th, but the night was over for Johnson and Keselowski.

    “I just got in an aero wake and it pulled me around,” Keselowski said. “I knew I was in a bad spot. I was trying to lay up but there is only so much you can lay up here because you get ran over from behind. The air pulled me around. It sucks. I feel bad for everyone on the Miller Lite Ford team and I think I tore up two or three other guys and that sucks for them. I don’t know. It is kind of a tough spot to be in on these tracks where they are kind of one groove. You can’t just lay up everytime. You give up too many spots or get ran over from behind. If you drive in with someone close to you the car just spins out. It just sucks but it is what it is. We have to find a way around it and we didn’t today.”

    The next wreck occurred after the ensuing restart on Lap 94 when Kasey Kahne tried to force his way inside of Trevor Bayne, sending him spinning and sending himself into the wall in Turn 1.

    “It was just a restart, I had a run on the No. 6 and I got under him getting into Turn 1 down the front stretch and he just drove over my front end, pretty simple,” Kahne said.

    The final multi-car wreck occurred in overtime.

    As race leader Martin Truex Jr. came to the line to take the white flag, Darrell Wallace Jr. ran Matt Kenseth up high in Turn 4, pushing him out of the racing groove and into the marbles, where he got loose and spun out in front of teammate Daniel Suarez, who t-boned the drivers side of Kenseth’s car. Austin Dillon, who was following Suarez, slammed into the back of him and hooked him towards the wall as he turned down towards and through the grass.

    David Ragan was also involved as he drove over the grass with the words “restart zone” painted over it to avoid Kenseth and Suarez.

    Dillon was the only one who was available for comment afterwards and said, in short, he “had nowhere to go.”

    “We were committed to the top for the final restart, so I had nowhere to go when they spun in front of me. It was a rough end to a challenging night,” he said.

    Of the drivers involved, Keselowski left Kentucky highest in points in eighth, followed by Johnson in ninth. Bowyer leaves 10th, while Kenseth leaves 11th. Suarez left 19th, Kahne left 22nd and Ragan left 28th.

  • Larson Ends Weekend with Runner-Up Finish at Kentucky

    Larson Ends Weekend with Runner-Up Finish at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Calling Kyle Larson’s weekend at Kentucky Speedway an adventure would be quite an understatement.

    First, his car failed inspection so many times in qualifying that he didn’t even post a lap and started dead last. Even on raceday, it took more than one attempt to finally clear tech inspection. And they did so with less than 30 minutes to go before the start of the Quaker State 400.

    Starting dead last, Larson moved his way through the field and made it all the way up to third by the conclusion of the first stage. But he was sent to the tail-end of the field on the following restart for speeding on pit road and was forced to work up through the field a second time.

    While he didn’t score any stage points in the second stage, a result of finishing outside the top-10, He found  himself running top-five in the closing laps of the race itself.

    With race leader Martin Truex Jr. pulling out to a 15-second lead in the closing laps, it looked as though Larson would have to settle for just a top-five. But that all went out the window when Kurt Busch’s engine expired on the frontstretch with two laps to go.

    While Truex opted to stay out, Larson and a company of others elected to pit. He exited third (fourth in the running order) and restarted behind Truex, who chose the outside line, on the overtime restart.

    He gave a push to shove Truex out ahead coming to the green, but ended up behind Kyle Busch. Exiting Turn 2, however, Larson got underneath him, powered by and cleared him going into Turn 3.

    A four-car wreck exiting Turn 4 ended the race under caution and locked in a runner-up finish for Larson.

    He said afterwards that he wasn’t sure what he could’ve done to catch Truex.

    “Yeah, I don’t know what we could have done to beat him,” Larson added. “He was obviously pretty fast with the lead there. It would have been fun to get to race him because I felt like I had the second best car today; and it would have been interesting to get a restart with him earlier and get to hang with him that last run there. But, we brought the Target Chevy home second after not being able to qualify and having to start last in the race and then having my speeding penalty there. I guess I was just a little too fast leaving my stall and got a penalty. So, I’ve got to clean that stuff up. I’m mad at myself that I made that mistake. I don’t really know if it affected the outcome, but you never know.”

    Larson leaves Kentucky the points leader, retaining a one-point lead over Truex.

  • Truex Dominates and Survives Overtime Restart to Win at Kentucky

    Truex Dominates and Survives Overtime Restart to Win at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Martin Truex Jr. put on a clinic in the Quaker State 400, leading the most laps and sweeping the stages, but had to out-duel the field in overtime to win for the third time this season at Kentucky Speedway.

    Restarting in overtime, Kyle Larson shoved Truex out ahead of the field and a multi-car wreck in Turn 4 coming to the white flag ended the race under caution, rendering the victory to Truex.

    It’s his 10th victory in 423 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career starts.

    Larson finished runner-up, followed by Chase Elliott on the bottom step of the podium.

    Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five.

    Erik Jones, Jamie McMurray, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-10.

    RACE RECAP

    Busch led the field to the green flag at 7:49 p.m. He led the first 29 laps before Truex edged him out at the line on Lap 30. Busch regained it the following lap, but Truex drove him back down to take it and win the first stage.

    Busch took back the lead on the ensuing Lap 88 restart exiting Turn 2. But as was the case in the first, Truex reeled him in, passed him on Lap 136 and won the second stage. Joey Logano broke up the Busch/Truex parade up front by bypassing pit road under the stage break and taking the race lead, only to lose it on Lap 171.

    Truex then built himself up a 12-second lead, only surrendering the lead under a cycle of green flag stops with 43 laps to go, which he took back with 39 to go. Kurt Busch’s blown engine on the frontstretch with two to go brought out the race’s eighth caution, setting up the overtime finish.

    CAUTIONS

    Caution flew for the first time on Lap 31 as a scheduled competition caution due to rain that pelted the track the whole weekend. The second flew on Lap 81 for the end of the first stage. The third caution flew on Lap 88 for a three-car wreck in Turn 3 involving Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson. The fourth flew on Lap 95 for a two-car wreck in Turn 2 involving Kasey Kahne and Trevor Bayne. The fifth flew on Lap 112 when Bayne went spinning in Turn 4. The sixth flew on Lap 138 when Joey Gase hit the wall in Turn 2. The seventh flew for the end of the second stage.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, 55 minutes and 57 seconds at an average speed of 138.604 mph. There were nine lead changes among four different drivers and nine cautions for 39 laps.

    Larson leaves with a one-point lead over Truex.

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  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rankings – Kentucky

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rankings – Kentucky

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series took center stage at Kentucky Speedway Thursday night. Barring a three-hour rain delay, it was an action filled race. Here are the power rankings following Kentucky.

    1. Christopher Bell – While Bell was the dominant truck throughout the race, it did not come without issues. On lap 28, Bell took a spin in turn 3 bringing out the second caution. Bell had another issue in Stage 2, by being involved in a wreck on lap 43, but came away with no damage. He rebounded by the end of Stage 2 to finish sixth. In the remaining laps of the race, Bell swapped the lead with John Hunter Nemechek until he took the lead for good on lap 114. He eventually held off a hard charging Brandon Jones with just a few laps remaining to score his third win of the year.

    “This is pretty special man,” Bell said. “This is an extremely tough race for me. We had our ups and downs there and through practice yesterday.” “We had such a great Toyota Tundra that I knew, I knew if the right circumstances came up we could do it and Rudy (Fugle) did a great job on top of the pit box just getting me track position after I made a mistake there and spun out.”

    2. Brandon Jones – Jones’s race came with issues as well. After starting sixteenth, Jones slipped back to finish seventh in Stage 1 and ninth in Stage 2. However, on lap 115, Jones and Ryan Truex made contact to bring out the last caution. It took him several laps to rebound, but he challenged for the win and eventually settled for second behind race winner Christopher Bell.

    “Yeah, I’m dying for a win right now for sure,” Jones said. “I was trying everything I could to get to the 4 (Christopher Bell) at the end. Eventually, I finally just started holding my line and you see him trying to move around stuff and try to mess us up a little bit. It was all fun and games for sure. I enjoyed it. It was a great start so far.”

    3. Justin Haley – Haley made his fourteenth career start last night and a career-best third. After starting 10th, Haley had a solid Stage 1 finish by finishing sixth. During Stage 2, Haley led only four laps to finish third. Haley eventually held on to finish where he finished in Stage 2, third.

    “We had a really good night in the No.24 Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevy,” Haley said. “We knew track position was going to be key and Kevin (Bellicourt, Crew Chief) worked out great strategy for us.”

    4. Noah Gragson – Gragson had a solid night at Kentucky. After starting eleventh, Gragson finished just two spots ahead in Stage 1 as the truck needed adjustments to get to Gragson’s liking. When Stage 2 began, Gragson started second and assumed the lead on lap 41 to win his first ever stage of his career. However, issues came in Stage 3. Gragson brought out a caution on lap 77 for a collision between him and Austin Cindric but started to work his way to the top. He was up to seventh with 10 laps to go, before eventually finishing in fifth place.

    “We led some laps during the second stage and were in a really good position running seventh to start the third stage,” Gragson said. “I just made a rookie mistake down there running the apron. Not running this track before, I didn’t know there was a bump there and I had a little bit of wheel into it down there in the front stretch and spun out.”

    5. Parker Kligerman – Kligerman has been solid recently in the truck series in 2017. Before Kentucky, Kligerman had only competed in three races and scored just one top 10 coming at Charlotte. Kligerman started in the 30th position after qualifying was rained out. While he did not finish in the top 10 in the first two stages, circumstances worked out for him and he came home to finish seventh, his best finish of the year.

    “Glad we had a solid night and we will take this and keep building on runs like this,” Kligerman said. “Good momentum going into our next few races.”

    Next up: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes a week off, before heading to the famed Eldora Speedway on July 19.

  • Cody Coughlin Nabs Top-15 Finish At Kentucky

    Cody Coughlin Nabs Top-15 Finish At Kentucky

    Cody Coughlin was able to nab a top-15 finish in Thursday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway.

    In the first stage, Coughlin finished in the 20th position after running seventh earlier in the race. In the second stage, he improved his finishing position to sixteenth.

    In the remaining laps during the final stage, Coughlin was inside the top 10 but fell back quickly after his engine let go on the back stretch. Nonetheless, he was able to get to the start/finish line to finish 15th in the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225.

    “That was a bit weird, I had no warning that was going to happen until the engine just let go,” Coughlin said. “It’s disappointing because we had another top-10 finish within our grasp. It was fun racing up there for much of the night. It was certainly wild at times. I’m glad the rain stopped and we were able to get this race in.”

    This was Coughlin’s sixth top-15 finish of his career and his fourth this year.

    Coughlin sits 13th in the driver standings after Kentucky.